Desperado
by Paintdripps
Summary: He swore to put duty before all else. She swore she wasn't going to fall for the big-shot, the hero. But of course they wouldn't be able to keep their promises... contains references from SON.


**Well, this is random. Jayna/Jeyna. I just HAD to write this, huh? Based on "Desperado," by The Eagles. I love 'em. :D **

**And I'm so sorry for not updating the rest of my stories, but I was... at camp for the week, without computer or fanfiction or even a notebook to write in. (Shudders). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HOO, or Jayna - a totally AWESOME pairing, am I right? ;D**

* * *

><p><em>Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?<br>You been out ridin' fences for so long now _

"Congrats on making praetor, Jason." Dakota, centurion of the Fifth Cohort, clapped the blond boy on the back enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Bobby added. "Now maybe you'll finally get that girl you've been waiting for."

"Shut up, Bobby," Jason blushed. "There's no girl."

"What about-" Bobby grinned.

"Don't even say the name!" Jason shook his head. "I'm a praetor now, I've got responsibilities. I can't be hanging around trying to get a girlfriend."

At that moment, a raven-haired girl walked up. "Congratulations, Grace."

"Reyna." He dipped his head cordially.

She hesitated before saying, "Well, you know I'm going to praetor too, sometime soon."

Dream on, he thought. New recruits don't make praetor so soon.

_Oh, you're a hard one  
>I know that you got your reasons <em>

Imagine his disbelief when less than half a year later the former Twelfth Legion praetor stepped down from his post and _Reyna _was raised on a shield as praetor.

"Wonder how she got the position so fast," Gwen muttered to Jason.

"She had some drive, huh?"

"I wonder exactly _what kind of drive_," Gwen teased lightly, eyes sparkling like he knew something he didn't.

_These things that are pleasin' you  
>Can hurt you somehow <em>

Jason sat by the window, just staring outside. He'd imagined making praetor would've been more... meaningful, somehow. But it was all empty.

Reyna sat next to him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just... does it even mean anything?" He gestured broadly around.

She knew what he was talking about. "Well... I got here from nothing. Nothing, Grace." She took a deep breath.

"Where did you even come from?"

"He destroyed my home. Him and the girl."

"Who?"

Reyna's dark eyes were piercing. "I used to live on an island with my sister..."

_Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy _

_She'll beat you if she's able _

_You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet _

"She's some girl, you know." Bobby nodded at Reyna, who stood talking to Octavian, the augur.

"Mmm. What?" Jason stopped staring at Reyna and blushed.

_"_Jason, I know you're not blind. Gotta admit she's pretty hot."

"Who are you talking about?" Jason asked innocently.

Now it seems to me, some fine things  
>Have been laid upon your table<br>But you only want the ones that you can't get

"I swore to put duty first, Bobby," Jason said. "Duty above all else."

"Pfft. Duty." Bobby rolled his eyes.

"I know you like Jason Grace!" Gwen told Reyna at the same moment, across camp.

"I swore to myself that I wasn't going to fall in love and end up as some useless plastic doll!" Reyna snapped ferociously back.

"Love isn't necessarily a weakness," Gwen retorted.

"I don't love him!"

"Keep denying it, girl. Just keep denying it."

_Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger  
>Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home<br>And freedom, oh freedom well,_

"I can't stand it!" Jason groaned into his pillow late at night. "I just can't stand it!"

"Can't stand what?"

Jason jumped and looked up. Reyna was standing above him.

He blushed. "Reyna! Why are you in my bedroom?"

"I can _hear you _through the wall."

"I'm in my freaking _boxers _for the gods sake!"

"And I'm in my pajamas," she responded. "What can't you stand?" She sat on the bed with him.

Jason buried his face in the pillow. _Gods of Olympus, why does it have to be her?_

_That's just some people talkin' _

Reyna stayed with him all night, talking softly and just making him feel all the worse. "You know," she said suddenly, "I wish-"

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Oh gods!" She jumped. "You're still awake?" She blushed.

"What were you going to say?"

_Your prison is walking through this world all alone _

Reyna wished she'd kept her mouth shut. She had been going to say, "I wish it could be simple. No duties, no public eye watching, just you and me."

She'd made praetor because she'd been hoping to be closer to Jason. But it wasn't working; she was more alone than ever. 

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?  
>The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine<p>

"Nobody else is here but us," Jason coaxed. "What were you going to say?"

"You'd laugh at me."

"Would not!"

"You're smirking!"

"Okay, yes, I am." He smiled at her, and she could feel warmth seeping into her. _No! Bad Reyna. Don't think that way. _

_It's hard to tell the night from the day  
>You're losin' all your highs and lows<br>Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away? _

"I wish it could be simple..." She murmured at last.

_Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?  
>Come down from your fences, open the gate <em>

Jason took her face in his hands. "Me too." He paused, as though thinking.

_It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you  
>You better let somebody love you, before it's too late <em>

He kissed her gently. "This is us, keeping it simple..."

"What now, Jason? HUH? I told you you liked her!"

Bobby's voice, whooping from the window.

"Oh my gods, you were watching?"

* * *

><p><strong>Haha, Bobby never gives anyone privacy... he's a snooper. At least, in my imagination. <strong>

**Reviews, please?**

**-Raven **


End file.
